The steps to treat bath salt dependence include detox, inpatient therapy, and ongoing recovery. Detox Those beginning rehab for bath salts addiction may require detox. This step involves safely managing withdrawal symptoms as the drug is processed out of the body.
Full Answer
Are bath salts an addiction treatment option?
The editorial staff of American Addiction Centers is made up of credentialed clinical reviewers with hands-on experience in or expert knowledge of addiction treatment. Bath salts in the current context do not refer to personal hygiene or bathing products found in local drugstores.
What is the treatment protocol for bath salts abuse?
The treatment protocol for individuals who have abused bath salts follows the general treatment protocol associated with other substance use disorders. Generally, these individuals are diagnosed with a stimulant use disorder or some other specific form of substance use disorder. The treatment protocol consists of the following:
How do you detox from bath salts?
Other treatment options involve tapering off bath salts and other stimulants to avoid a significant change and readjustment for a person’s body. During detoxification, having constant medical attention is important to ensure a safe detoxification.
What are the signs and symptoms of bath salts addiction?
Bath Salts Abuse and Addiction: Signs and Treatment 1 Effects of Bath Salts. Bath salts affect the central nervous system, resulting in massive increases of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. 2 Cravings and Withdrawal. ... 3 Treatment for Bath Salts Abuse and Addiction. ...
What are the side effects of bath salts?
Side effects include: 7. High blood pressure. Rapid heart rate.
What are the challenges of bath salts?
One of the greatest challenges in responding to and treating bath salts use is that the chemical compounds are constantly changed by manufacturers, so emergency physicians and treatment professionals don’t know exactly what they’re dealing with from one case to the next.
What are bath salts similar to?
What Are the Effects? Bath salts are stimulants that are chemically similar to amphetamines, cocaine, and MDMA ( ecstasy or Molly), and they produce many of the same desired effects as these drugs, including: 3,5.
What are the risks of bath salts?
One of the more pronounced risks associated with bath salts is excited delirium, a state of extreme agitation that is frequently accompanied by violence toward others or self-harming behavior. In a study of fatalities involving synthetic cathinones, 41% were suicides-a higher proportion than in any other drug. 8.
Where do bath salts come from?
Bath salts are synthetic compounds chemically related to cathinone, a stimulant found in the khat plant. 3 Khat is a shrub that grows in East Africa and Southern Arabia; locals chew on the leaves of the plant for its mild stimulant effect.
How does addiction develop?
Addiction develops as users begin to compulsively seek out and use a drug, even though it interferes with their normal life and responsibilities. Animal studies have shown that rats will compulsively self-administer bath salts, a hallmark of addictive substances. 3.
Can bath salts cause erratic behavior?
Bath salts can cause erratic behavior in users , who may pose a danger to themselves and others. If bath salts use has become a problem for you or someone close to you, a drug abuse treatment facility can help.
What is bath salt treatment?
When people talk about the bath salts treatment protocol, they are referring to the process for rehabilitation. Reputable rehabilitation centers will provide an assessment to determine the proper levels of care for an individual’s substance use disorder and then begin detoxification, which involves the natural removal of the drug from a person’s system. This is done either through the cold turkey approach — abruptly stopping all dosage — or slowly tapering off the client by minimizing the dosage or providing replacement medications.
What is bath salt?
Bath salts is the name for the drug class called synthetic cathinones, which includes methylone, mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone. These human-made substances are similar to cathinone, a stimulant produced from the khat plant. While consuming natural cathinone has mild effects, the synthetic variations can be much stronger and generate dangerous side effects. Many people replace cocaine, amphetamine or ecstasy with bath salts because the drug is a cheaper alternative and provides similar effects.
What is the most intensive part of rehab?
Inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation often follows the detoxification stage. When people enroll in a rehab facility for inpatient rehab, they will experience the most intensive aspect of the rehab program. This stage can include individual and group counseling sessions, recreational therapy options such as exercise, art classes, outdoor activities and more. People often will meet others suffering from substance use disorder and find a social support group to help cope with their addictions.
What is the first step in sobriety?
Treatment is just the first step that you will take in ensuring your sobriety. Along the way, it will be up to you to remain in treatment , to stay focused and to take the necessary steps to remain sober.
Is bath salt illegal?
Illegal bath salts have taken the nation by surprise causing an array of serious problems for users and for those indirectly impacted by these dangerous drugs. Children and teens who abuse bath salts have committed suicide, parents have lost their loved ones, and many have been injured or otherwise hurt by this substance. While bath salt addiction is a relatively new problem in treatment centers, professionals have found ways to treat the condition and help users to restore balance into their lives.
Why do people use bath salts?
People often use bath salts because they are looking forward to the psychological effects the drug can cause. Because it is a stimulant drug, it can produce a euphoric high. People typically experience:
What happens if you stop taking bath salts?
Withdrawal happens when you stop taking bath salts (or almost any drug) after taking it for an extended period of time. The longer you were using it, the more severe your symptoms will be, typically.
What does it mean when a patient is cross-addictive?
A lot of the patients we work with have cross addictions. That simply means that they are addicted to more than one substance or behavior. Failing to address these additional substance abuse problems typically results in a relapse.
What is sober living called?
When this is the case, they are referred to a long-term treatment program, which may also be called residential treatment, or sober living.
How long does it take to get help for addiction?
Inpatient programs are generally the most popular way of getting help for an addiction. They involve staying in a facility for a period of around 28 days. During that time, patients can go through detox if the facility offers it, and then they can move on to rehab afterwards.
What is the difference between drug abuse and addiction?
There is a difference between drug abuse and addiction, and it is important to understand those differences. When someone abuses a drug, they are typically only using it recreationally, and not because they feel they need it. They can stop at any time, usually without any ill effects.
Why is medical detox so popular?
This simply means that you will be able to take medications to help with your withdrawal symptoms. Your doctor will talk with you about what you are experiencing and prescribe medicine to help alleviate symptoms.
What happens if you are addicted to bath salts?
If someone you know is addicted to bath salts, chances are they are dealing with a number of physical, emotional, and mental issues. Family, friends, neighbors, and even coworkers can provide support and love during the addicted individual’s time of need.
Is bath salt addictive?
Bath salts are addictive. The drugs are notoriously known for producing serious side effects that may be damaging from the first hit. They are a synthetic type of cathinone, which is found in nature in the khat plant. Cathinones are similar to amphetamines, which is why the amphetamine and bath salts addiction processes are similar.
What are the withdrawal symptoms of bath salts?
Common bath salts withdrawal symptoms can include depression, anxiety, and paranoia. Those can all make it difficult to make realistic, logical decisions or push through the daily work required in recovery. And if someone is already dealing with mental health disorders, these withdrawal symptoms can make it difficult to tell whether a mental health issue is out of control. These challenges make professional treatment during the detox period of recovery especially important for many.
What is behavioral therapy?
Behavioral therapy for substance addiction seeks to identify and manage addictive behaviors that lead to use and prevent relapse. Behavioral therapy is based on the concept that all behavior is learned, and thus, unhealthy behavior can be changed through learning coping skills and increasing awareness of negative thoughts and beliefs that contribute to substance abuse.
What is the process of allowing toxins to leave your body?
Detoxification is the process of allowing the drug and all associated toxins to leave your body without re-introducing it via additional use. Some drugs, including bath salts, create a physical dependency. Your body becomes tolerant of the drug, which leads you to take more to get the same high. Increased use of bath salts leads to increased dopamine and serotonin levels. These are hormones that are natural to your body and regulate certain functions, including how you experience pleasure.
Can bath salts cause paranoia?
They don’t always lead to the euphoric high that people are chasing. In some cases, bath salts abuse can cause erratic and illogical behavior, sudden and aggressive behavior, hallucinations, and extreme paranoia. These can combine to create a situation where someone high on bath salts is a danger to themselves and others.
Is bath salt a real drug?
Despite being sometimes sold under legal packaging as plant food or another product, bath salts are a very real drug that can require real professional intervention in recovery. Treatment options tend to center on therapy and other behavioral methods because there aren’t yet approved detox medications for those addicted to synthetic cathinones. Talk therapy methodologies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, are one option to consider. Other potential treatments might include motivational enhancement therapy and contingency management.
Can bath salts cause kidney damage?
Permanent kidney damage is possible. The chemicals in bath salts can also cause muscle tissue within your body to breakdown.
Why do people abuse bath salts?
People who are addicted to stimulants like cocaine and meth will frequently abuse bath salts because they are cheaper than black market drugs, and they are sometimes easier to obtain. People may also mistakenly believe that bath salts are a safer way to get a high that’s found in meth and cocaine abuse since bath salts are sold in stores.
What happens if you swallow bath salts?
If someone snorts or swallows bath salts, they may have traces of the substance on their nose, or around their mouth. Injecting bath salts will leave behind track marks on the user’s skin, and loved ones may find evidence of hypodermic needles, tourniquets, and tools to dissolve the bath salts in a user’s room.
How do you know if you are using bath salts?
The way a person abuses bath salts will have certain signs particular to their method of using the drugs. If someone snorts or swallows bath salts, they may have traces of the substance on their nose, or around their mouth. Injecting bath salts will leave behind track marks on the user’s skin, and loved ones may find evidence of hypodermic needles, tourniquets, and tools to dissolve the bath salts in a user’s room. Signs that someone is high on bath salts may include the following: 1 Increased agitation 2 Increased energy 3 Elevated heart rate and blood pressure 4 Chest pains 5 Delusions and hallucinations 6 Increased body temperature, or chills 7 Tense muscles 8 Nausea 9 Lack of appetite 10 Confusion 11 Paranoia 12 Suicidal thoughts
Where do bath salts come from?
Bath salts are synthetic cathinones that derive from the khat plant, a native shrub to southern Arabia and East Africa. The khat plant produces chemical compounds that induce a stimulant effect in people who ingest the plant. People who abuse synthetic cathinones will experience an intense high, increased energy, and impairment.
Can bath salts cause a person to become violent?
Confusion. Paranoia. Suicidal thoughts. Bath salts can also cause someone to lose touch with reality and become violent toward themselves or other people. Several cases of bath salt abuse in the U.S. and the U.K. involved aggressive acts toward other people and law enforcement.
Is bath salt legal?
Even though bath salts are sold in stores, they are not legal. Synthetic cathinones have a chemical makeup that can be quickly changed and altered, and it’s difficult for drug enforcement agencies to keep up with the ever-changing face of synthetic cathinones.
Can bath salts cause withdrawal symptoms?
Yes, bath salt s are addictive substances, and people who are dependent on the drugs will experience withdrawal symptoms, including paranoia, tremors, insomnia, anxiety, and depression. When most people attempt to quit drugs on their own, they are often ambitious and optimistic about their abilities. But once withdrawal symptoms set in, they can be ...
What is residential treatment?
Residential treatment is the most intensive treatment option, making it an ideal choice for teens, people with co-occurring mental health conditions, and those with a history of relapse or multiple drug addictions.
Can bath salts cause mental illness?
If you have a mental illness along side your bath salt addiction , the clinical term for this is dual diagnosis. Because bath salts are stimulants, they're especially attractive to people with depression and ADHD, but anyone can develop an addiction.
Can bath salts be used for addiction?
No medications currently available can treat the addiction itself, and in most cases, your doctor will recommend quitting bath salts cold turkey. In fact, most treatment protocols recommend transferring to some kind of psychiatric care after completing treatment so that underlying issues can be addressed.
What is bath salt?
The drugs widely sold as bath salts, and other similar names, are alleged to produce dramatic effects in their users. Perhaps one of the most famous incidents of apparent bath salt abuse involved a spate of horrific attacks, including cannibalism.
Why are bath salts so popular?
Drugs like bath salts appeal to younger individuals because their packing is often colorful and attractive. They are often sold without restrictions, and young people can buy them off of the internet. Additionally, bath salts are not tested for in routine drug tests, making the drugs extremely popular for those who have workplace or mandatory drug screenings.
What is the White House's paper on bath salts?
The White House published a paper on synthetic designer drugs like bath salts, including stats and information on scheduling. The National Institute on Drug Abuse also has information on the facts about bath salts.
Can bath salts be abused?
When a loved one’s bath salts abuse spirals out of control, bath salts rehab is an option. Signs that an addiction has occurred usually involves a pattern of abuse that is destructive and carries on despite negative side effects. Usually, this might involve missing school or work, a failure to follow through with financial obligations, missing family obligations, or recurrent legal issues.
